St. Clair County Associate Judge Randall Kelley denied Scott Credit Union’s motion to dismiss a former St. Louis Cardinals football player’s suit alleging consumer fraud.
However, in his Feb. 16 order, Kelley granted the defendant’s request to dismiss All Pro Development as a plaintiff. He denied the remainder of the motion.
He scheduled a status conference for May 18 at 8:30 a.m.
Plaintiffs Dave Butz and Eugene Schill filed an amended complaint on Dec. 8 against Scott Credit Union and Ted Longust, individually and as director of Scott Credit Union’s board of directors.
Butz played as a defensive lineman for the Cardinals for two seasons and for the Washington Redskins for 14 seasons.
According to the complaint, Scott Credit Union is accused of removing currency and opening unsecured lines of credit from the plaintiffs’ accounts, allegedly leaving them on the hook for millions in past due accounts.
The plaintiffs claim the defendants falsified documents, forged signatures, attempted to collect millions from past due accounts that were unauthorized and unsupported.
Butz and Schill also claim the defendants willfully used their names to extend commercial lines of credit to fictitious or random companies unrelated to the plaintiffs.
As a result, the plaintiffs claim they endured obstacles in their ability to legitimately borrow money, start new business ventures and uphold their professional reputations. They allege they are not personal guarantors for millions of dollars in fraudulent lines of credit that are now in arrears. They also allege violations of the Illinois Credit Union Act and breach of fiduciary duty.
Butz and Schill filed their original lawsuit on April 22, 2015, against Scott Credit Union, Longust, Frank Padak, Chris Browner, Steve Stryker, Adam Koisher, Sridhar Kondapalli, Brian Waldron, Marna Asbury, Janice Pyszka, Scott Peters, Dale Beard and Craid Burkhard.
However, Padak, Browner, Stryker, Koisher, Kondapalli, Waldron, Asbury, Pyszka, Peters, Beard and Burkhard filed a motion to quash service of summons on July 17. They claim the plaintiffs attempted to serve summons on them by delivering them to the law office of Michael Forster rather than attempting to personally serve the summons. Butz and Schill did not name them as defendants in the amended complaint.
Scott Credit Union filed a motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s amended complaint on Dec. 31 through attorneys James Branit and Thomas Jacobson of Litchfield Cavo in Chicago, alleging the complaint lacks sufficient facts.
It claims the plaintiffs failed to properly allege a deceptive act under the Consumer Fraud Act.
“Plaintiffs herein have not alleged a ‘deceptive act or practice’ by Scott Credit that Scott Credit intended the Plaintiffs to rely upon or that the Plaintiffs in fact relied upon,” the motion states.
Scott Credit Union claims the plaintiffs failed to allege how the defendants’ actions have deceived them or that they were aware of the alleged actions at the time.
“Indeed, there is no allegation that the plaintiffs thought that the fraudulent loans were legitimate,” the motion states. “Rather, Mr. Longust’s creation of the fraudulent loans was not meant to deceive the plaintiffs, but rather Scott Credit itself.
Further, the defendant claims the plaintiffs’ negligent and negligent hiring claims in Counts II and V are barred by the Moorman doctrine, which holds that a “’plaintiff cannot recover for solely economic loss under the tort theories of strict liability, negligence and innocent misrepresentation.’”
The defendant also argues that All Pro Development’s claims should be dismissed. While All Pro is mentioned as a plaintiff in the introduction, Scott Credit Union says the plaintiff is not mentioned anywhere else in the amended complaint.
Further, the defendant claims the plaintiffs never sought leave to add All Pro, which was not mentioned in the initial complaint.
Kelley dismissed All Pro Development as a plaintiff without prejudice on Feb. 16, but denied the remainder of Scot Credit Union’s motion.
The plaintiffs seek damages in excess of $50,000, plus attorney’s fees and costs.
They are represented by Grey Chatham Jr. of Chatham & Baricevic in Belleville.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 15-L-234